It's been five or six years since several significant games franchises abandoned their biannual restaging of the second world war in favour of depicting more modern warfare. It would be nice to suppose that it's largely because of this that Sniper Elite V2 feels like a throwback, rather than the distractingly weary visuals and level design. Yet it's a strange but undeniable pleasure to be battling jackbooted fascism in a big mainstream game again and one that makes overlooking these flaws a simpler task than expected. Also, if the latest series entry feels like it hasn't moved on in ways it should have since the original was released in 2005, it is worth noting that the strengths of that first title have been retained – and perhaps even improved upon.

The considered pace holds an intensity rarely found in a marketplace obsessed with the frenetic. Creeping through the blasted streets of 1945 Berlin, locating the ideal sniper's nest and booby-trapping its perimeter before settling in to await the perfect shot is a captivating trial-and-error experience. The smarter-than-usual plot about capturing V2 scientists as part of the real-life US Operation Paperclip also helps the game to rise above the sum of its parts.

Equally, little touches, such as waiting for loudspeaker announcements to echo across an enemy camp and hide the sound of your devastating rifle, add an enjoyably dark wit to most missions.

Sadly, it still feels a little more like revisiting a great old game rather than being thrilled by a brand new one.